Monitise shares soar on news of Telefonica tie-up

Shares in UK mobile money specialist Monitise jumped nearly 7 per cent in early trading today (1st July 2013) on news that it has become the preferred technology partner for Spain’s Telefónica. The five year deal is said to involve “substantial minimum revenues to Monitise,” with the initial focus in the UK where Telefónica owns the O2 brand. According to a statement put out by Monitise, the total minimum revenues are not dissimilar to those recently announced in the company’s new partnership with Visa Europe.

Monitise CEO, Alastair Lukies. said, “We are delighted to be working with Telefónica, one of the 50 largest companies in the world, pooling our shared experiences and innovations in new ways to create even more compelling secure mobile money services that are easy for consumers to use, every minute of every day.”

In May this year [2013], Monitise’s shares also soared after it was revealed how the company had completed a final contract with Visa Europe to deploy mobile money payments and commerce services for Europe’s financial institutions, ratifying an earlier announcement.

Monitise also said it was granting Visa Europe – already its major shareholder – a warrant to purchase 43 million ordinary shares at a price of 36.25 pence.

But further good news came from the US where billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman listed Monitise as one of his favourite stocks, suggesting its shares might be the biggest winner of all in terms of growth.

Within an hour of trading in London this morning AIM-listed Monitise’s shares had risen to nearly 37 pence, having closed on Friday at 34.5 pence.

About Dave Evans

Dave Evans was a long established commentator on both the IT and cellular industries. His last focus was on share price trends within the sector. He passed away in September [2014].